{"id":31396,"date":"2025-03-08T02:27:21","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T02:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31396"},"modified":"2025-03-08T02:27:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T02:27:21","slug":"red-sox-get-bad-news-on-gold-glove-outfielder-leaving-opening-day-status-in-doubt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31396","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox Get Bad News on Gold Glove Outfielder, Leaving Opening Day Status in Doubt"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wilyer-Abreu.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wilyer-Abreu.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wilyer-Abreu.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wilyer-Abreu.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" data-img-load-time=\"1117\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1207\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS &#8211; JUNE 30: Wilyer Abreu #52 of the Boston Red Sox scores off a missed catch by Kyle Higashioka #20 of the San Diego Padresduring the third inning at Fenway Park on June 30, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi\/Getty Images)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Boston Red Sox\u00a0made one of the biggest signings of the offseason, bringing in much-needed right-handed power to their lineup with the addition of Alex Bregman.<\/p>\n<p>With Opening Day\u00a0less than three weeks away, however, there will likely be at least one member of Boston\u2019s starting nine unavailable to take the field.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSounding more and more that (Wilyer) Abreu won\u2019t be ready for the start of the season. (Alex) Cora noted he\u2019s pretty behind and still only tracking pitches on (Trajekt) not yet swinging,\u201d Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic\u00a0posted on Bluesky on Friday morning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWilyer Abreu still not cleared to face live pitching. So seems pretty evident he will not be on the Opening Day roster,\u201d\u00a0Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe added.<\/p>\n<p>Abreu is coming off a big rookie season and is projected to be the Red Sox starting right fielder again in 2025. The 25-year-old has been\u00a0battling a gastrointestinal virus\u00a0during Spring Training and has yet to appear in any exhibition contests.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly two weeks into Spring Training, Abreu was shut down from baseball activities after reporting to camp with the illness and received some \u201csubsequent abnormal lab results,\u201d per\u00a0MassLive\u2019s Chris Cotillo.<\/p>\n<p>After being acquired by Boston in an August 2022 trade that sent catcher Christian Vazquez to the Houston Astros, Abreu debuted in MLB with a 28-game campaign during the 2023 season. The Venezuelan opened 2024 as a starter and finished the year with 15 home runs, 58 RBI, 33 doubles and a .253\/.322\/.459 slash line, good enough to come in sixth place in the AL Rookie of the Year vote.<\/p>\n<p>Where he really separated himself was on defense though, recording nine outfield assists and 17 defensive runs saved (leading all MLB right fielders). Abreu became the first Red Sox rookie to win a Gold Glove Award since nine-time All-Star Fred Lynn in 1975, who not only won the defensive hardware that season, but the AL MVP and Rookie of the Year honor as well.<\/p>\n<h2>Abreu\u2019s Situation Could Open Door For Top Prospect or Recently Signed Veteran<\/h2>\n<p>While Boston appears likely to be without Abreu for the start of the season, his absence could open the door for a few other outfielders.<\/p>\n<p>Roman Anthony could now not only make the Opening Day roster but be summoned as the immediate starter in place of Abreu. The 20-year-old former second-round pick is widely considered to be the top prospect in the Red Sox minor league system and in some rankings, the top prospect in all of baseball.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s gone 4-for-13 with one double, four RBI and three runs scored, along with an impressive 4:1 walk to strikeout ratio over 18 plate appearances covering six games this spring.<\/p>\n<p>If the team decides not to rush Anthony into a high-pressure situation, they could choose to start Rob Refsnyder in right. The 33-year-old\u2019s spent the last three seasons with Boston, posting 18 home runs, 89 RBI and a .278\/.367.427 slash line in 727 plate appearances over 239 contests. Refsnyder had career highs in almost every offensive category in 2024, including home runs (11), RBI (40) and hits (77) by playing in his most games as well (93).<\/p>\n<p>Anthony or Refsnyder are frontrunners to get the Opening Day job assuming Abreu isn\u2019t ready, but their ascension to the starting gig could also lead to veteran outfielder Trayce Thompson finding a roster spot on the bench. The 33-year-old younger brother of\u00a0Dallas Mavericks\u00a0star\u00a0Klay Thompson\u00a0was signed to the team\u2019s Spring Training roster as a non-roster invitee\u00a0in mid-February\u00a0and has been hot during exhibition play thus far.<\/p>\n<p>In 23 plate appearances covering eight Spring Training games, Thompson is 6-for-20 with three home runs, six RBI, two doubles and five runs scored.<\/p>\n<h2>Rafael Devers Faces Murky Future as Well<\/h2>\n<p>Aside from Abreu, the Red Sox are also dealing with uncertainty surrounding All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers.<\/p>\n<p>On top of the\u00a0Bregman-Devers saga and who will actually line up at the hot corner this season, the 28-year-old hasn\u2019t even been able to take the field during Spring Training yet. Devers has been dealing with a shoulder injury, which manager Alex Cora updated reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDevers hasn\u2019t gotten in a game yet. Cora now says either Tuesday or Wednesday are the target dates for him,\u201d\u00a0McCaffrey wrote on Bluesky.<\/p>\n<p>For what it\u2019s worth, with third base unoccupied by Devers this spring, Bregman has been taking most of the reps at the position, with 24-year-old Vaughn Grissom playing the most innings at second base.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDefensive innings at 2B: Grissom 37, Campbell 20, Hamilton 20, Sogard 4, Bregman 0,\u201d\u00a0Abraham posted on Bluesky. \u201cDefensive innings at 3B: Bregman 26, Toro 18, Sogard 16, Mayer 13.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If Abreu is indeed out past Opening Day, and Devers is playing through injury, that much more pressure will be on Bregman to deliver in his first games in a Red Sox uniform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS &#8211; JUNE 30: Wilyer Abreu #52 of the Boston Red Sox scores off a missed catch by Kyle Higashioka #20 of the San Diego&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Red Sox Get Bad News on Gold Glove Outfielder, Leaving Opening Day Status in Doubt - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31396\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Red Sox Get Bad News on Gold Glove Outfielder, Leaving Opening Day Status in Doubt - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS &#8211; 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